Adjustable mounting for an ink fountain



March 17, 1970 F. NEAL ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AN INK FOUNTAIN 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 23, 1967 g/ F m n k iJ ZZ I ATTORNEYS March 17, 1970 FQNEAL ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AN INK FOUNTAIN 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 23, 1967 JNVENTOR.

F rc n k Ne CI l ATTORNEYS MQE March 17, 1970 F. NEAL 3,500,745

ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AN INK FOUNTAIN Filed Aug. 2:5, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet s ATTORNEYS ADJUSTABLE: MOUNTING FOR AN INK FOUNTAIN I Y Fii aAug. as; 1967 F. NEAL March 17, 1970 4 sheets-sheaf 4 INVENTOR.

F ron k N ecll ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,500,745 ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AN INK FOUNTAIN Frank Neal, Green Brook, N.J., assignor to Wood Industries, Inc., a corporation of Virginia Filed Aug. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 662,703

Int. Cl. B41f 31/06 US. Cl. 101-207 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An adjustable mounting for an ink fountain of an inking system including a platform for mounting the ink bowl for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from the axis of rotation of the ink fountain roll and an adjustable control for pivoting the entire fountain about such axis to move the ink fountain roll into and out of engagement with the pickup roll of the inking system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention pertains to inking systems and more particularly to an inking system in which the fountain roll is adjustably supported for movement into and out of engagement with the pickup roll of the inking system by actuation of a hand control.

Description of the prior art In prior inking systems used for feeding ink to the paper being fed through the printing press, it has been conventional to employ a single fountain bowl extending the full width of the paper. With such inking systems, the ink fountain roll is also constructed to extend the full length of the paper; and if it is desired to supply separate colors to any separate page widths, fountain dividers are positioned within the bowl at the proper location along the fountain roll. These dividers separate the fountain bowl into separate compartments in which the different colors of ink may be placed. Also, in the prior constructions of this type, it is sometimes found desirable to cut off the supply of ink to a page width as for example where the paper being fed through the press is of a width less than the width of the fountain roll. In order to do this, these prior constructions have been provided with a cutoff blade having a length equal to a page width. This cutoff blade is pressed against the roll to prevent the flow of ink through the inking system at the desired page width.

With these conventional inking systems certain disadvantages are encountered. For example, a change in color being supplied to any page width requires that the fountain bowl be first cleaned of the previous ink that was used. Also, where any particular page width has been silenced, the portion of the ink drums in line therewith is not supplied with any ink and tends to become hot; and this requires that the silenced sections of the drums be periodically sprayed with ink to decrease the heat which would otherwise cause damage to the drums. One other disadvantage of the prior construction as described above, resides in the fact that the ink fountain roll cannot be readily separated from the pickup roll. As sometimes happens, a foreign particle may become lodged in the nip between the fountain roll and the pickup roll and the presence of this particle will effect the evenness of the ink supplied through the system. In order to remove this particle with the inking systems as described above, it is necessary to stop the printing operation and remove the fountain so as to obtain access to the fountain roll whereby the foreign particle may be removed.

3,500,745 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 In accordance with the teachings of the present inventron, the disadvantages of the prior inking systems are avoided. With applicants construction, a single fountain bowl is provided for each page width. These fountain bowls are positioned end-to-end and supply their individually contained ink to the page width portions of the pickup roll. The individual fountain bowls may be readily removed and replaced with a fountain bowl containing a different color ink without necessitating cleaning of the fountain bowls each time such a change is made. Also, it is unnecessary to provide any separate fountain dividers which are cumbersome to handle and require cleaning after each use.

In addition, the individual fountain bowls together with the ink fountain roll contained therein are pivotally mounted for movement toward and away from the pickup roll of the inking system. As compared to prior constructions, the fountain roll is positively driven by a drive gear mounted exteriorly of the fountain bowl; and the pivotal mounting of the fountain bowl is about the axis of the drive gear whereby the movement of the bowl and thus the movement of the fountain roll into and out of engagement with the fountain roll may be effected without disconnecting the drive.

With applicants construction, a single page width may be readily silenced by simply moving the appropriate fountain bowl with its fountain roll out of engagement with the overlying pickup roll. The pivotal mounting of the fountain bowl is not only advantageous when it is necessary to silence a page width but is also of advantage for removing foreign particles that may become lodged in the nip between the fountain roll and the pickup roll. This may be done by pivoting the fountain bowl to a position where the fountain roll is out of engagement with the pickup roll so as to permit the foreign particle to move through the ink distribution system. In addition, when a page width has been silenced, the aligned portions of the ink drums may be periodically supplied with a slight amount of ink to keep them cool by momentarily moving the ink fountain roll into engagement with the pickup roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one of the page width fountains of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a single fountain;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of the front end of the ink fountain bowl structure of FIG. 2 showing its pivotal connection to the drive shaft of the system;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the drive sideof the fountain showing the connection of the gears between the drive shaft and the fountain roll;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTIQN OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a single page width fountain includes a fountain bowl 1 and a mounting means in the form of a platform 2 on which the bowl is positioned. Mounted interiorly of the fountain bowl is a fountain roll 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the drive side of this fountain roll is provided with a gear 4 extending in sealed relationship through the side wall of the bowl. Bearing members 5 and 6 are provided for mounting the fountain roll for rotation within the fountain bowl. The non-drive side of this fountain bowl is mounted closely adjacent to the drive side of the next fountain in the inking system,

like parts of this second fountain being designated by the same number with the suffix prime.

For positively driving the ink fountain roll, it is connected to an externally mounted drive gear 7 through means of an idler gear 8. The drive gear 7 is fixed to a drive shaft 9 which is, in turn, mounted by suitable means on an underlying support 10 of the inking system. The idler gear 8 is, as shown in FIG. 4, rotatably mounted to the drive side of the fountain bowl in a sealed manner similar to the mounting of the driven gear 4 of the fountain roll and is in meshing engagement with both the drive gear 7 and the driven gear 4.

In FIG. 2, the fountain bowl is shown as mounted on the platform 2 with the ink fountain roll 3 operatively engaging the pickup roll 11 of the inking system. A suitable doctoring mechanism designated 12 is used for regulating the amount of ink supplied to the ink drums of the system by the ink fountain roll which itself is partially submerged within ink contained in the bowl. For aligning the bowl on the platform, the upper surface of the platform is provided with guides 13 cooperating with runners 14 on the lower surface of the bowl. These guides function to accurately position the fountain bowl laterally of the platform. In addition, the front end of the platform is provided with upstanding collar members 15 having rearwardly facing positioning surfaces 16 complementary in shape to the facing surfaces on the front of the ink bowl for accurately positioning the ink bowl longitudinally of the platform. The ink bowl is secured onto the platform when properly positioned thereon by way of the pivotally mounted clamping bolts 17 which are adapted to be received within cutouts 18 at the back end of the bowl 1. With this construction, the fountain bowl may be easily removed from the platform and replaced with another bowl containing a different colored ink.

As will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the entire platform with the bowl mounted thereon is pivotally mounted about the axis of the drive shaft 9. For this purpose, the collar members 15 are shaped to be received around the drive shaft 9 and held in place by means of cooperating complementary-shaped clamps 19 secured by means of the bolts 20. In order to permit the necessary rotation of the drive shaft 9 while the platform is clamped thereto, suitable bearings 21 are provided.

At the rear end of the platform, there is disposed an adjusting mechanism generally designated at 22 for controlling the pivotal position of the fountain about the axis of the drive shaft and in particular, the position of the ink fountain roll relative to the pickup roll. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, this adjusting mechanism includes a depending foot in the form of a circular plate 23. This plate is disposed centrally 'between the sides of the platform and sits on the upper surface of the underlying support 10. A handle 24 is connected to this plate while the plate itself is rotatably mounted on a shaft member generally designated at 25. As seen in FIG. 2, the shaft 25 includes an enlarged portion 26 and a portion 27 of reduced diameter. The plate is eccentrically mounted with respect to the portion 27 for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the portion 27. This axis is represented in FIGS. 2 and 6 by the line AA while the center of the plate 23 is represented by the line BB. With this construction, rotation of the plate 23 in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 6 will effect a rotation of the center BB of the plate about the center AA of the shaft portion 27. FIG. 6 shows the plate positioned to effect engagement between the fountain roll and the pickup roll of the inking system; and since rotation of the handle 24 in a counterclockwise direction will move the center of the plate upwardly, this will, in turn, move the lowermost surface of the plate, where it engages against the underlying support, in an upward direction relative to the platform 2. Due to the pivotal mounting of the other end of the platform about the drive shaft 9, this movement of the plate will effect a lowering of the back end of the platform and thus drop the fountain roll away from engagement with the pickup roll; and since this movement can be accomplished without disconnecting the fountain roll from the drive, it is not necessary to stop the entire inking system when it is desired to either move the fountain roll out of engagement with the pickup roll or back into engagement therewith.

In operation, the plate 23 is either positioned as shown in FIG. 6 to locate the fountain roll in operative engagement with the pickup roll or the plate is rotated to a second position effecting complete separation of the fountain roll from the pickup roll. When the fountain roll is in operative engagement with the pickup roll, there is a slight spacing between these rolls; and to suit the particular running conditions of the press, it is desirable to be able to vary this spacing. For this purpose, the enlarged portion 26 of the shaft 25 is constructed eccentrically of the smaller portion 27. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the enlarged portion 26 has a center represented by the line C--C and is rotatably mounted within a mounting block 28. Exposed seating surfaces 29 are provided on opposite sides of the center line C-C and a pair of adjusting screws 30, 30' threadedly secured to the mounting block 28 have their lower ends engaging against these seating surfaces. By adjusting these screws to lower one and raise the other, rotation of the shaft 25 about the axis CC of the enlarged section may be effected. Such rotation will, in turn, rotate the center AA of the smaller section about the axis CC to thus raise and lower this axis AA. As will be evident from FIG. 6, movement of the location of the axis AA in a vertical direction relative to the platform 2 will, in turn, control the amount of raising and lowering of the platform when the plate 23 is rotated. With reference to FIG. 6, rotation of the shaft 25 by tightening the lefthand screw 30 and by loosening the righthand screw 30' will move the center AA upwardly so that thereafter every time the plate 23 is rotated by actuation of the handle 24 to the position shown in FIG. 6, the spacing between the fountain roll and the pickup roll will be greater than with the arrangement of the parts as is shown in FIG. 6.

As indicated above, the plate 23 forms a downwardly extending foot which is mounted centrally between the sides of the platform. In order to stabilize the platform when the fountain roll is in operative engagement with the pickup roll and in order to provide a locking of the fountain roll in running position, its vertical movement in an upward direction is made controllable. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, adjustable limiting means in the form of bolts 31 are threadably connected to the underlying support 10 on opposite sides of the adjusting mechanism 22. The upper portions of these bolts extend slidably through bores 32 in the mounting block 28 and are provided with enlarged heads 33. As shown in FIG. 6, the lower surfaces 34 of these heads face the upper surface 35 of the countersunk portions of the bores 32 in which the heads are disposed. By adjusting these bolts 31 on the opposite sides of the adjusting mechanism after initially setting the fountain roll in operative engagement with the pickup roll, a parallel relationship between the axes of rotation of the fountain roll and the pickup roll is assured. Once this adjustment is made and both bolts tightened, they will assist in holding the fountain bowl in the raised position against any loosening that might otherwise be caused by vibrations created during the printing operation.

What is claimed is:

1. In an inking system having an ink fountan bowl, a fountain roll rotatably mounted in said bowl for operatively contacting a pickup roll of the inking system disposed in overlying relationship therewith, the improvement comprising:

(a) mounting means including a platform underlying said fountain bowl with bowl aligning guides on its upper surface mounting said fountain bowl for pivoting movement about a pivot axis extending parallel to the axis of rotation of said fountain roll;

(b) underlying support means for said mounting means;

(c) a downwardly depending foot connected to said mounting means and engaging against said underlying support means at a point spaced laterally from said pivot axis;

((1) selectively operable control means for adjusting the vertical position of said foot on said mounting means so as to pivot said mounting means about said pivot and move said fountain roll selectively into and out of operative engagement with said pickup roll;

(e) said bowl includes cooperating guides on its undersurface for positioning said bowl on said platform in a predetermined position; and

(f) means being provided for removably securing said bowl onto said platform in said predetermined position.

2. In an inking system having an ink fountain bowl, a fountain roll rotatably mounted in said bowl for operatively contacting a pickup roll of the inking system disposed in overlying relationship therewith, the improvement comprising:

(a) mounting means including a platform underlying said fountain bowl for mounting said fountain bowl for pivoting movement about a pivot axis extending parallel to the axis of rotation of said fountain roll;

(b) underlying support means for said mounting means;

(0) a downwardly depending foot connected to said mounting means and engaging against said underlying support means at a point spaced laterally from said pivot axis, said depending foot comprising a circular plate connected to said platform with its lowermost peripheral surface depending downwardly therefrom and engaging against said underlying support;

(d) selectively operable control means for adjusting the vertical position of said foot on said mounting means so as to pivot said mounting means about said pivot and move said fountain roll selectively into and out of operative engagement with said pickup roll, said control means including:

(1) a shaft secured at one end to said platform with said plate mounted eccentrically on the other end thereof, and

( 2 means for selectively rotating said plate about control means further includes:

(a) means for adjusting the rotative position of said shaft relative to said platform, the one end of said shaft being rotatably mounted to said platform eccentrically of the other end thereof whereby rotation of said shaft changes the vertical orientation of the longitudinal axis of its other end relative to said platform.

4. An inking system according to claim 3 wherein said improvement further comprises:

(a) locking means disposed on opposite sides of said downwardly depending foot laterally of said fountain bowl for limiting the upward pivotal movement of said bowl, said locking means being adjustably connected to said underlying support, extending through said mounting means and having downwardly facing surfaces facing the upper surface of said mounting means for individual adjustment to align the axis of rotation of said fountain roll parallel to the axis of rotation of said pickup roll.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,900,263 3/1933 Wood 101351 2,051,135 8/1936 Donohue 101351 FOREIGN PATENTS 83,797 4/ 1953 Denmark. 604,569 7/1948 Great Britain. 605,797 7/ 1948 Great Britain.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner I. REED FISHER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

